BARATHEON

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To anyone who asked... He'd have to get Flafe up here at some point. For some reason he was reluctant to go back to Orion and face his sister. To tell her everything he'd been through, how he wanted to eat greater gembounds when he lost control. It was shameful. He wasn't sure if he would be able to meet the disappointment he imagined she would have in her gaze. No. It was best to forego going home for now. Who knew... perhaps she was better off without him. At least until he knew more about himself.

The dragon finally disentangled himself from the gembound when the new set of questions came. "Uh-huh. I live in Orion with my sister Flafe! But I haven't been home in a while... I'm... working on something so until I get better I can't go back." He shuffled his paws in the dirt, looking a tad bit upset for just a split second. Then almost immediately he perked up again. "But I have two brothers... Dragon and Ghanyarah but I haven't met Ghanyarah yet, but I know he's my brother. Usui the lion, he's my friend, is also helping me with... my condition." "Condition" sounded much better than "Bloodlust", right? Now... What about the food? Sure he wasn't even hungry but that wasn't the point! Blood and hunting were fun! Even better than bones though he was certain he could gnaw those to help himself out a little.

"Can I have a rat, Giggle?" He remembered that she said rats were here in her home so he'd like to sample one.

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BARATHEON

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His tail wagged happily when he was prompted to follow. He snapped up the bone and carried it along like a dog would. It was easier to tote around in his mouth rather than his paw, he could focus strictly on walking now. Well, walking and Giggle's words. He came abreast of her, his short legs having to double their work to keep up with the other gem. She spoke of knowing Usui which made him happy. Yay! They had mutual friends. That was always nice. Seemed as if she knew him pretty well too. "Mmhmm." He maneuvered the bone so he could speak easier. "He says he can help me with my... well..." It was weird speaking so openly about it but with her bones and the future she'd predicted he felt a little more secure. "My condition is the... Bloodlust. It makes me get a bit excited over... blood." He thought back his first fight when he'd discovered it. "When I first found out about it it was because I met this dog named Kerberos and we fought." He twisted his neck slightly to show her the scars at the side of it, in case she wanted proof of the fight. "But it's okay! We're friends now!" As if that excused everything.

When they reached the area he hopped forward excitedly. The bone dropped on the ground as he used his nose to sniff around. It wasn't long until he found the scent of rodent buried under the stench of other things. He tracked the prey down easily then pulled it out of its hole with his fangs in its tail. Somehow he managed to gently yet firmly pull it out without spilling any blood. Perhaps this was the secret? Eating prey whole without tasting the blood?

So far it was good as he managed to get the rat into his mouth without biting to hard. Unfortunately, once it was in his mouth the temptation was far too great for the young dragon. He hadn't really developed very much self control in his few weeks of living and though he didn't want to he bit into the skin of the rat and blood spilled. Before he swallowed it down blood flowed down his lips and spattered onto the ground.

His nostrils flared as he smelled it... His body remembered the taste and wanted more. By not spilling the blood when hunting he had curbed some of the Bloodlust but by spilling that tiny taste all he did was tease himself. He needed more prey if he was to revert... In his feral state he didn't care how he got the prey.

His eyes, pink but with a distinctly reddish hue turned onto Giggle. His lips curled up into a snarl, exposing those need-like fangs. His body got up on its own accord and he took one step towards the gem but stopped himself, eyes closing as he tried to get a hold of himself. "I..." He grunted out the word though in his crazed state it was more of a growl than a true word. His eyes opened and this time rather than being pink with a reddish hue they were red, completely red. "Sorry..." He grunted with the last vestiges of his sanity. He was gone and unless he was stopped in some way, Giggle would be his next meal. He slowly advanced towards her, head lowered and ears pinned as he prepared to go in for an attack.

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BARATHEON

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After he'd spoken that last, barely audible, "sorry" he continued forward. His muscles tensed and he prepared to launch himself at the gem's throat. His mind spoke a singular word... Kill! And kill he certainly would. Before he could fully prepare himself to leap, his crimson eyes opened wide and to everyone around him it would seem as if he was staring off into space. However, with the look of terror that passed across his young face it was obvious that he was seeing horrible visions.

In the red mist of his mind's eye he saw himself running after Giggle. He was closing in on her but before she could turn to get away, he was upon her. His teeth met into her throat and he ripped into it. The feral part of him that wanted nothing but to kill reveled in the blood of the gem but his sanity recoiled. No! No! She helped us! She was nice! Why? He could hear himself thinking it... Thinking it far too loudly like it was a separate person saying it. The Bloodlust... The part of him that was feral turned mindlessly to address the sane part... Somehow he'd split into two beings. The pink-eyed kind dragon and the red-eyed beast.

Doesn't matter if she was nice... They're all meat. All blood... All bones... They are made to be destroyed. We will destroy them. The logic. It was reasonable. Kerberos' blood had tasted no worse than the rat's and in a way... it was better. Giggle probably tasted the same. Don't deny it... To deny it is pointless. Kerberos was right... We are all food. Kill or be killed. The pink-eyed Bara, his sane self, stepped back in horror. No! He wanted to reject this. To turn away and deny it all. He would go back to eating bugs! He would! He didn't care how delicious blood was... It was better to just be an insectivore and not have that lust.

He ran, ran away from that red-eyed beast... but could one truly run from one's self?

He tripped and fell then and slammed into something squishy on the ground. After sitting up he noticed that his coat was stained with blood and entrails were scattered around him... From what though? He looked and saw before him was Flafe. His face turned to a mask of pure horror. Had he done this? That mindless voice spoke within his mind now. You cannot escape it. I am you. You are me. You can't deny what you are. Embrace it and be free! But he couldn't. Flafe... His family... His friends... He didn't want to destroy! He wanted to have friends, a family!

And yet... that primal urge was always there...

Embrace it!

"NO!" Back in the waking world, the dragon had fallen onto the ground. For a solid seven minutes he'd fallen into the hallucinogen-induced sleep. He had twitched and his legs had moved with the motions with his dream but now with his roared word his eyes opened. They were frantic and terrified but back to the normal pink-hue. Where was Giggle? Had he hurt her? Had his dream actually happened? He looked down at his body and even though he hadn't killed Giggle he still did have rat blood on his coat. To him that meant his dream had come true and he had killed her before falling into the sleep.

Absolutely terrified and upset with himself he gave a bloodcurdling scream and thrashed on the ground. Eyes closing. Was he still in a nightmare? Would he ever wake up? With his Bloodlust would he ever be free? No... He wouldn't because now he had killed a greater gembound! He could never go home! He would have to go on his own and he could never face anyone again!

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BARATHEON

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He couldn't move, he couldn't do anything. He just covered his eyes with his paws and trembled. He'd killed her... He'd killed that sweet gem! "Baratheon," His ears twitched and raised without him really wanting them to. Could it be? Or was this just another hallucination? "Baratheon, are you there? Baratheon, I can help you." No! She wasn't dead! He uncovered his eyes and was face to face with the gem. He was so happy! He hadn't killed her! "I... I thought you were dead... I thought I killed you..." His voice was a sad sob and he had to fight to keep himself from crying with joy. He wasn't a complete monster... Not yet anyway.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I just... I just..." He covered his eyes again as he began to sob. She wasn't Flafe but she was as kind as Flafe and he didn't know what he'd do if he killed her. He curled himself up into a ball, his wings wrapped around himself and his tail over his eyes as he sobbed into it. Usui had told him that feeling sorry about it wouldn't help... controlling himself would. But how could he?

How on earth could Giggle help? No one could help! Perhaps the bones were wrong! He was hopeless... What he'd seen in his vision was right. He was only meant to destroy.

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BARATHEON

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The dragon could feel the nudge on his body. A comforting thing that made him feel confident enough to poke his eyes from behind his tail. He was so happy she wasn't dead but just to be sure he reached out with a paw and gently touched the top of her snout. Yes. She was there. He gave her a reassuring pat before grabbing his tail again.

He shook his head. "It happens whenever I smell blood.. any kind of blood. I nearly tried to eat Kerberos." Fortunately they had been of equal strength and the fight had ended inconclusive. "How can you help? Will you try to control it like Usui did?" Would he be studied some more? He honestly didn't mind. Anything that would help.

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